New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS)

The New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS) was established and is maintained at the NJDOH Center for Health Statistics and Informatics (CHS) through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This surveillance system links data from multiple sources into a single standardized record of a violent death.

Which deaths are included in the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System?

A violent death is defined as a death that results from the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community. NJVDRS includes:

homicides

suicides

deaths resulting from legal intervention (i.e., when individuals are killed by law enforcement personnel in the line of duty)

unintentional firearm injury deaths

injury deaths of undetermined intent

What types of data are gathered?

The NJVDRS collects data from a variety of sources, including:

death certificates

medical examiner reports

law enforcement reports

toxicology and ballistics reports

All violent deaths occurring in New Jersey are included, as are violent deaths of New Jersey residents that occur out-of-state. The system is incident-based, and related victims and suspects are grouped into one incident. NJVDRS staff abstract and code incidents using CDC standard variable definitions to allow for comparable data analysis across multiple participating states.

Healthcare Facilities & Services

New Jersey is home to over 2,000 licensed hospitals, nursing homes, and medical care facilities. The New Jersey Department of Health works to ensure that citizens receive appropriate levels of care in every regulated facility.